Accused L.I.R.R. Gunman Seeks To Impress Prospective Jurors

Hoping to convince prospective jurors that he is not an insane murderer who shot 25 people on a Long Island Rail Road train a year ago, Colin Ferguson personally began questioning each potential juror today, despite the objections of his own legal advisers.

"It is Mr. Ferguson's opinion that he alone can best introduce himself to the potential jurors," said Alton G. Rose, one of the defendant's advisers.

"He wants to show them that he is not a madman, that he is, in fact, a sane person, capable of communicating in a normal fashion, and that they should give him a chance to tell his side of the story," Mr. Rose said.

Mr. Ferguson, wearing a brown tweed sports jacket, shirt and tie over a bulletproof vest, approached the jury box with a smile.

An error has occurred. Please try again later.

You are already subscribed to this email.

The prosecutor, George Peck, questioned the pool of 14 prospective jurors for 15 minutes. Mr. Ferguson took an hour and 10 minutes, then during a meeting at the bench with the judge asked that all 14 be dismissed.

The judge refused, so Mr. Ferguson used 11 of his 20 peremptory challenges, for which he need give no reason, leaving only 3 people left in the jury box. Mr. Peck made no objections to any of the 14.

The three left were a retired Nynex employee and a a bus driver, both of whom are black, and a businessman who later asked to be dismissed. The judge said he would consider the businessman's request when jury selection resumes Friday morning.

Ronald L. Kuby, another of Mr. Ferguson's legal advisers, who insists that Mr. Ferguson is insane and not mentally competent to defend himself, described the jury selection process as the "first act of a three-ring circus."

"Mr. Ferguson is asking a lot of rambling questions, and some questions do have a point," Mr. Kuby said.

"But the problem is, there is no defense," he said. "When you're questioning prospective jurors, usually it's with an eye to familiarizing the jury with your defense and to see if they have any bias or prejudice with respect to what you are going to present to them."

"But what's Mr. Ferguson going to present to them? Mr. Kuby asked "What's the defense in this case? All we still have is a crazy man with a crazy defense, flailing away defending himself."

Mr Rose said he, too, opposed Mr. Ferguson's decision to question jurors and continue to represent himself as his own lawyer.

"By doing so, Mr. Ferguson exposes himself to the jurors and they will form a personal opinion about him even before they hear the facts in the case," Mr. Rose said.

We are continually improving the quality of our text archives. Please send feedback, error reports,
and suggestions to archive_feedback@nytimes.com.

A version of this article appears in print on January 20, 1995, on Page B00005 of the National edition with the headline: Accused L.I.R.R. Gunman Seeks To Impress Prospective Jurors. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe